Judgment puts U.S. Forest Service’s Adventure Pass program in jeopardy

A federal judge ruled that the U.S. Forest Service can no longer charge visitors to the forest. Based on the ruling, the signs saying that an Adventure Pass is required on Highway 39 above Azusa will need to come down.
Leo Jarzomb — staff photographer

A federal court judge has ordered the U.S. Forest Service to refund entrance fees to four Southern California hikers, leaving the 17-year-old Adventure Pass program in tatters.

U.S. District Court Judge Terry Hatter entered final judgment in the landmark case on June 23, ordering the Forest Service to stop charging forest visitors to hike, fish, bicycle, walk and even park in the forest, according to the judgment. Hatter ruled that charging a recreation fee to a visitor who does not use “developed facilities and services” violates the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act (FLREA).

Hatter also denied the U.S. Forest Service’s cross-motion, meaning the case is over unless the Forest Service appeals the ruling to the U.S. 9th Circuit Court within 60 days.

The ruling affects the Angeles, Cleveland, Los Padres and San Bernardino national forests, an area that stretches from Monterey to San Diego and from Santa Clarita to Big Bear.

The Forest Service would not answer questions directly but in a written statement released Wednesday said it was still evaluating the court’s decision and deciding what steps to take next.

“Recreation fees are still in effect in the four southern California national forests and the Adventure Pass is still valid,” wrote John Heil, press officer for the Forest Service’s Pacific Southwest Region.

An attorney for the plaintiffs said they received no indication whether the Forest Service would appeal. However, the ruling is in effect and must be obeyed, said Matt Kenna, an attorney for the four hikers.

Kenna said he has the option to file contempt of court proceedings if the Forest Service does not comply with the judgment. But he stopped short of doing so, saying he’s heard of some signs at entry points to the four forests that say “fee required” and “Adventure Pass required” being taken down. He couldn’t be specific.

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“But compliance with the court order has been sporadic,” Kenna said on Tuesday. “We are still monitoring the situation. We have asked that they be provided a directive from the Washington D.C. office on how to comply with the court order.”

Hatter’s ruling strikes at the heart of the Adventure Pass program, which charges visitors $5 a day or $30 annually to visit one of the four forests, some of the most heavily frequented forests in the United States. Violators would receive tickets written by forest rangers.

Under the ruling, a fee can be charged and collected if a person uses an area with a picnic table, a toilet, interpretive signs or kiosks or other substantial amenities. Fees cannot be charged solely for parking or for someone pulled over on the roadside, for an impromptu picnic on a road or trail side, Hatter wrote.

The Adventure Pass’s legal ground weakened when the 9th Circuit ruled in a similar case in February 2012, Adams v. the U.S. Forest Service. But because the case was won by plaintiffs hiking in the Mount Lemmon area of the Coronado National Forest near Tucson, Arizona, the Forest Service in California ignored it, said Mary Ellen Barilotti, the attorney for the plaintiff.

The four California hikers filed their case shortly thereafter. They are: Richard Fragosa and Alasdair Coyne of Ojai, Peter Wiechers of Kernville and John Karevoll of Running Springs.

“To me, it is not about the money,” said Karevoll, 62, speaking from his home Tuesday in Running Springs, who will be receiving his $5 back. “I don’t want any impediment between me and my outdoors experience.”

Karevoll said folks in Running Springs, Big Bear and Arrowhead would tell him they stopped going into the forest after church on Sundays because they didn’t have an Adventure Pass or couldn’t find a place that sold them.

“They are saying now I can go back to my regular Sunday walks in the forest or if they feel like pulling over to the side of the (forest) road, they will,” Karevoll said.

The Adventure Pass program began in 1997 as part of a Fee Demonstration Program. It attracted protests from activists — including Karevoll — who said it amounted to “double taxation” for using federal lands already paid for through taxes or was a barrier to enjoying federal forest lands.

Another activist was Robert Bartsch of Pasadena who has received seven citations for not having an Adventure Pass and had six of the seven dismissed in court, he said.

Later, in 2004, Congress tightened up the rules by writing the FLREA. Barilotti and others thought that precluded charging fees for using undeveloped portions of the Angeles and the other Southern California national forests. But the program continued in what the USFS called “high impact recreation areas.”

“Say you are driving in traffic on the 210 and you see those mountains. You don’t want to go find a Big 5 sporting goods store to buy a pass. You want to go and get that instantaneous experience,” Karevoll said. “It is our land. It is ours and yours.”